Monday, August 21, 2006

Movie Industry: Confused, Scared, Rich

The New York Times says movie studio people are confused and scared and hate how corporate honchos make them focus on the bottom line instead of just making "films." Mind you, this is an industry that has seen the pot of money it makes from movies grow from say $15 billion some 20 years ago (and that's being generous) to $50 billion today (even after the "slow-down" of DVDs, which is really just the natural leveling in sales for a new product). On the other hand, you can never trust them. Warner Bros. president Alan Horn admits "Superman Returns" cost $209 mil to make (that doesn't count some $50 mil or more in development costs, including pay or play deals for Nicolas Cage, etc.), says the movie will be lucky to make $400 mil worldwide, ignores the massive $100 mil or more in marketing costs and then insists he's puzzled by other people's reactions. Mr. Horn said, “People are asking, ‘Are you disappointed?’ I don’t know how to relate to that. I don’t know what to say.” I do. How about saying, "Yes, of course I am."